Well, I've been back from Africa for over a week now. The trip was amazing ... I fell in love with Africa, I fell in love with the people of Ethiopia, and surprisingly ... I fell in love with a new way of life that I wasn't expecting.
We landed in Addis, the capital on Thursday night after 25 hours of travel. Over the next 3 days, we were go-go-go ... going to a lixo (funeral), eating dinner in an Ethiopian hut, going to African church, preparing for a wedding, unpacking a TON of medications and supplies for the clinic, GOING to an African wedding ... all the while trying to sleep in a bed about 2 inches too short for me, and showers about 10 degrees too cold for me.
There are so many stories to tell from each of the above ... but the wedding was the coolest! Seriously ... imagine the following. Before the bridal party arrived by caravan, several guests show up in eager anticipation. And then ... the first car comes into sight. Franish, a tall, slender, meek (remember this ... meek, I tell you) African woman grabs a drum about 2 feet in length and about 1 foot in diameter, slings the strap around her neck, and begins to beat both ends of the drum. As she is beating, she starts singing ... then she starts screaming ... after each line, the remaining guests begin to gather around Franish, repeating back to her the lines she just sang. As they gather, they begin to sway ... hunching down just a bit at the waist, and moving their hips, and swinging their hands from side to side. As the cars pull up, the bridal party pours out and begin to join the crowd ... the bride and groom stay in the car for just a moment longer. Now, the pastor in the community, Mulatu, begins to sing with Franish. The crowd gets more and more into their celebration, stomping their feet, jumping up and down, screaming as loud as they can.
Now ... imagine us white people ... standing behind this crowd ... awestruck from the awesomeness that is happening before our very eyes. Get this, though ... the more and more they get into it ... I begin to feel the earth beneath me shake!!! It was crazy ... and I loved every second of it! The next 6 to 7 hours was part ceremony/part PARTY!!! We ended the night dancing around a bonfire until there was nothing left except for orange ambers.
The next day was Monday ... the first day at clinic. I have to confess, I was worried. Allyson had been emailing us for months to brush up on our infectious disease and tropical medicine. Short story even shorter ... I didn't do any kind of brushing of medical books. We took a tour of the clinic on Sunday morning. Allyson tried to explain how the work would flow ... and I was getting that gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing this was going to be bad. So Monday comes, we meet the staff of Ethiopian nurses, translators, and the like ... and we are broken up into groups. I am paired with Allyson, Victoria, and Nwagwo (pronounced Na-gow). Allyson says she will see the first patient so we can see how it's run ... and as the first patient walks in, Nwagwo asks them what is going on ... as the story unfolds ... I know what is going on. The gnawing feeling goes away, and I slip right into medicine mode ... un ... be ... lievable. I take the next patient ... and then on the next ... Allyson looks at me and says, "Josh ... are you interested in doing missions?"
Do you ever have one of those moments, where you don't know whether to cry or vomit or laugh or lose control of all bodily functions ... picture me ... in that dilemma.
"I have thought about missions ..." I replied.
"You know ... we have an opening here in Langano ..." Allyson retorted.
I still don't know what to do with that ... mostly because it was so honoring, and humbling ... and maybe because I felt like my desire for missions had always been just that ... my desire ... never something that was a possibility or in the will of the Lord for me ... but here it was ... sweet, simple, but huge ... an invite into the mission field.
Over the week I would see malaria, malnutrition, mastitis, anthrax (possibly?!?!) conjunctivitis, leprosy and then things I am used to ... allergies, arthritis, coughs, etc. It was so natural though ... frustrating at times as well. In Langano, there are 3 different languages spoken - Am-haric, Oromo, and English ... and so there is the patient who speaks Oromo, the translator that speaks all the, but primarily Am-haric (I think), and then me ... speaking only English me.
It was one of the greatest weeks of my life ...
As a whole, the trip did not radically change my view of God or my relationship with Him. Instead, it was very reaffirming. I felt like the whole time I was there, He would reaffirm certain desires of my heart and reaffirm much of the work He has done in recent months in my own heart. But He also gave me words ... in recent months and years, even, I have had this angst inside of me ... desires I could not express, or a discontentment , or unsettledness ... whatever it was, I believe I have words now to express those desires ... ready for them???
I love medicine ... I love that the Lord has blessed me with an amazing education, and a profession that can be used to change and help so many lives. And now, He has given me a direction ... NOT Africa, necessarily ... but a direction as a whole. This gift has been given to me not to terminate on myself, but to help those who need it ... and those who can't get it. I don't know what that looks like ... but it is going to be an amazing ride figuring it out!!!
We landed in Addis, the capital on Thursday night after 25 hours of travel. Over the next 3 days, we were go-go-go ... going to a lixo (funeral), eating dinner in an Ethiopian hut, going to African church, preparing for a wedding, unpacking a TON of medications and supplies for the clinic, GOING to an African wedding ... all the while trying to sleep in a bed about 2 inches too short for me, and showers about 10 degrees too cold for me.
There are so many stories to tell from each of the above ... but the wedding was the coolest! Seriously ... imagine the following. Before the bridal party arrived by caravan, several guests show up in eager anticipation. And then ... the first car comes into sight. Franish, a tall, slender, meek (remember this ... meek, I tell you) African woman grabs a drum about 2 feet in length and about 1 foot in diameter, slings the strap around her neck, and begins to beat both ends of the drum. As she is beating, she starts singing ... then she starts screaming ... after each line, the remaining guests begin to gather around Franish, repeating back to her the lines she just sang. As they gather, they begin to sway ... hunching down just a bit at the waist, and moving their hips, and swinging their hands from side to side. As the cars pull up, the bridal party pours out and begin to join the crowd ... the bride and groom stay in the car for just a moment longer. Now, the pastor in the community, Mulatu, begins to sing with Franish. The crowd gets more and more into their celebration, stomping their feet, jumping up and down, screaming as loud as they can.
Now ... imagine us white people ... standing behind this crowd ... awestruck from the awesomeness that is happening before our very eyes. Get this, though ... the more and more they get into it ... I begin to feel the earth beneath me shake!!! It was crazy ... and I loved every second of it! The next 6 to 7 hours was part ceremony/part PARTY!!! We ended the night dancing around a bonfire until there was nothing left except for orange ambers.
The next day was Monday ... the first day at clinic. I have to confess, I was worried. Allyson had been emailing us for months to brush up on our infectious disease and tropical medicine. Short story even shorter ... I didn't do any kind of brushing of medical books. We took a tour of the clinic on Sunday morning. Allyson tried to explain how the work would flow ... and I was getting that gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing this was going to be bad. So Monday comes, we meet the staff of Ethiopian nurses, translators, and the like ... and we are broken up into groups. I am paired with Allyson, Victoria, and Nwagwo (pronounced Na-gow). Allyson says she will see the first patient so we can see how it's run ... and as the first patient walks in, Nwagwo asks them what is going on ... as the story unfolds ... I know what is going on. The gnawing feeling goes away, and I slip right into medicine mode ... un ... be ... lievable. I take the next patient ... and then on the next ... Allyson looks at me and says, "Josh ... are you interested in doing missions?"
Do you ever have one of those moments, where you don't know whether to cry or vomit or laugh or lose control of all bodily functions ... picture me ... in that dilemma.
"I have thought about missions ..." I replied.
"You know ... we have an opening here in Langano ..." Allyson retorted.
I still don't know what to do with that ... mostly because it was so honoring, and humbling ... and maybe because I felt like my desire for missions had always been just that ... my desire ... never something that was a possibility or in the will of the Lord for me ... but here it was ... sweet, simple, but huge ... an invite into the mission field.
Over the week I would see malaria, malnutrition, mastitis, anthrax (possibly?!?!) conjunctivitis, leprosy and then things I am used to ... allergies, arthritis, coughs, etc. It was so natural though ... frustrating at times as well. In Langano, there are 3 different languages spoken - Am-haric, Oromo, and English ... and so there is the patient who speaks Oromo, the translator that speaks all the, but primarily Am-haric (I think), and then me ... speaking only English me.
It was one of the greatest weeks of my life ...
As a whole, the trip did not radically change my view of God or my relationship with Him. Instead, it was very reaffirming. I felt like the whole time I was there, He would reaffirm certain desires of my heart and reaffirm much of the work He has done in recent months in my own heart. But He also gave me words ... in recent months and years, even, I have had this angst inside of me ... desires I could not express, or a discontentment , or unsettledness ... whatever it was, I believe I have words now to express those desires ... ready for them???
I love medicine ... I love that the Lord has blessed me with an amazing education, and a profession that can be used to change and help so many lives. And now, He has given me a direction ... NOT Africa, necessarily ... but a direction as a whole. This gift has been given to me not to terminate on myself, but to help those who need it ... and those who can't get it. I don't know what that looks like ... but it is going to be an amazing ride figuring it out!!!
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